Monk's Blood | 21st Amendment Brewery

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Reviews by kojevergas:

355ml can served into a conical USC branded mini pint glass in me friend Bo's gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are high given the style.

Served straight from the refrigerator and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with extra vigor by accident; I'm used to pouring from bottles.

Paired with pretzel rods.

A: Pours a four finger khaki head of nice cream and thickness, and great retention (though the pour was very aggressive). Colour is a nontransparent caramel-copper. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show. Predictable for the style, but appealing.

T: Raisin and fig over top a caramel and dark sugar build, with biscuit malt throughout. A tasty little beer. Hints of plum - though not in a dark quadrupel sense. Nicely balanced, though the style demands more of a yeasty build. I do like it. No alcohol comes through.

Mf: Far too light and smooth. Needs more of a presence. Wet and refreshing, but no beer in this style should be refreshing. Way too thin. Weak.

Dr: Quite drinkable. It doesn't hold a candle to other better beers in the style, but I quite like it. Hides its ABV quite well. A great effort from 21st Amendment.

More User Reviews:

5/5 rDev +30.9%

12 oz can, 2014 edition, poured into a goblet

Appearance: Pours a pretty, completely opaque, dark mahogany color, with an eighth of a finger of white head that completely dissolved away into a thin halo of foam that gripped the sides of the glass.

Taste: Delicious! Strong notes of roasted malt, followed by dried stone fruit, such as raisins, prunes and figs. I also get notes of vanilla, candied sugar-like sweetness, and a touch of Belgian yeast funkiness. I love it!

Mouthfeel: Medium to slightly chewy. Very smooth, as there is practically no carbonation what-so-ever. With an ABV of 8.3%, there is a very pleasant alcohol warmth on the palate.

Overall: Another homerun from 21st Amendment, and one of my favorite American versions of a Belgian strong dark ale. Absolutely delicious!

Shout out to my friend Sandeep, the only person who reads these reviews. Sandeep try this beer. It's my fave from 21st Amendment, aside from Hell or High Watermelon which is more of a river beer.

I always try to write down thoughts on beers and end up with the same generic adjectives. "Smells yeasty. Head: good. Pours a nice... brown. HINTS OF VANILLA?" It's always vanilla. Or else pineapple (or maybe cherries)

Maybe I'm just swayed by the packaging. I like how 21st Amendment does everything in cans. But, the text on this can is written in an archaic old-timey font where r's look like f's. I couldn't read it all so I googled it:

"Legend has it that in the evenings, the monks would retire to their chambers & settle in with a few passages from the Good Book. But Brothers Nicolas and O’Sullivan [21st Amendment partners] had other plans. Working in the brewhouse all day, they were forced to repeat the same old recipes the elder monks had invented years before. They needed a little diversion. And found it in the cellar of the monastery with a fresh twist they put on the beer and the way they enjoyed it. Brother Nicolas (or Nico to his close friend) brought some hand-rolled cigars. O’Sullivan, the outspoken one, broke the vow of silence by spinning a remix of some Gregorian chants. Together, they’d throw down a couple nice hands of Texas Hold’Em and savor the handcrafted brew they created in secrecy. Everyday was good. Or so it seemed. But deep in his heart, Nico knew they were drifting into the ‘dark side’ of beer. Next thing you know they’d be skipping Lent. Then on night they’d face the Judgment for their actions with a hard knock at the door. Outside, the Abbots and elders would be holding stone in the air. A threat the brothers were sure would lead to the spilling of Monk’s Blood."

Pours honey brownish with a ruby tint to it. Slight haze pretty glow. A fat head of tan foam that falls quickly and leaves a ring but no lace. Nose is soft malt with a light caramel over it. Touch of brown sugar on the nose. Soft bread and dark fruits. raisin and date, there's even some bright cherry. A touch of wood and a bit of spice. Drinks just like that. With a creamy supple mouthfeel punctuated by a touch of carbonation. It has a good lightness in the mouthfeel that I was not expecting for so high an abv. It is medium mouthfeel. A bit of alcohol grazes the palate before this sweetened bread with all it's fruit finishes dry and with a bit of earthy spice. It does finish a bit sweeter than I would like but overall very good.

Poured from the can a deep ruby tinged chesnut brown with a large light tannish colored head atop.Aromas of spiced cherries,brown sugar and malt loaf,maybe a bit much on the spiced cherries wich come into play even more on the palate.Dark fruit wich mainly means cherries and phenolic yeasty spice dominat the flavors with cakey brown sugar-like notes underneath,sweetish alcohol rounds out the finish.It's not horrible but there are many more complex and not so sweet versions of the style.

Fruit esters are the first thing you smell then the malt aromas start to dominate. The malt aromas are kind of nondescript at first then resolve into some carmel and light toffee while the strong esters are of raisins and prunes. It has nice peppery phenols and a soft perfume alcohol aroma.

The first sip is like carmel covered marshmallows from the combination of the sweetness, vanilla, carmel and mouthfeel. There is also the pepper in there along with some of the dark fruit flavors. It has a medium-dry finish

The medium light body and moderately high carbonation combine to create a creaminess and softness on the palate. There is a bit of slickness from the diacetyl probably from the oak chips. The pepper and an odd spiciness start to dominate the other flavors after a few sips; I would really call the spiciness cinnamon and defiantly not clove.

There's a lot going on in this but the flavors muted and unfocused and the oak is barley coming through. It does it the marks for the style of being dark, rich, complex and strong and possible smooth depending on home much pepper you enjoy.

A - Pours a deep red with one finger of tan head. Head has decent retention and leaves a small amount of lacing.

S -- Initially sweet with big aromas of dark fruits. Lots of cherry, with some raisin, fig and plum. Dark bread, a bit of vanilla and cinnamon round it out.

T - Taste follows the nose pretty closely, with nice cherry and other dark fruits. Unlike the nose, in the taste the sweetness fruit the fruits is countered by some earthiness. Bready malts, some vanilla and some oak tannin dryness.

M - Medium mouthfeel that starts with some sticky sweetness and finishes dry.

O - Might not be the most complex BSDA, but this was very enjoyable and dangerously drinkable beer that I would have again.

Poured the beer into a Duvel tulip glass. Has a nice deep brown maroon color to it. Smell is all about cinnamon. There are some hints of vanilla, but it seems to just add to the sweet cinnamon smell. The taste is very similar to the smell. Cinnamon and vanilla with hint of figs. Mouthfeel is good, carbonation is what is to be expected. Sits for a bit after swallowing. Overall it's a good beer. It would be nice if it cleaned off the tongue faster, but it has nice retention and pleasant smell.

Looks a little blood-like, though this lifeblood would need significantly more oxygen. The mud brown liquid is just muddy enough to be opaque, but it nevertheless looks thin. Head hangs round.

The smell is a real nice cinnamon and vanilla. For better or for worse, it hardly smells like alcohol. It's a tangy sweet, and I'm delighted that it's not that dark-candied sugar so prevalent in other BSDAs. The feel is SO light for what I thought would be kind of a thick and chewy, Belgian yeast-dominated beer. In addition to that cinnamon and vanilla, there's only a slight Belgian twang with almost a cherry almond finish. It's like a light dessert, yet thin enough for an aperitif. In sum, it's probably the best beer I've had from the brewers at 21st Amendment.

So what is this bloody beer anyway? Well, to start with, it kinda looks like blood. It is a brownish red colour like a blood stain that has been through the wash. This ale has little to no head, and no lacing (though I must admit I'm not sure my glass is "beer clean" tonight) The aroma is kinda like a rotten fruit, in a good way. Figs, some citrus and vanilla are in the aroma and the flavour. The yeast is very strong and present with only a slight bitterness from the hops. Well balanced and odd. So odd, I think I like it!

Appearance: Deep red-ish brown, small head that dissipated quickly to a ring.

Aroma: Some dark fruit, plums and cherries, with little hints at cinnamon, vanilla and bourbon.

Taste: There is some more cherry/plum like flavors up front. It's not too boozy, but there is a little bit there to balance out the sweetness. It finished with a touch of bitterness. Could finish a little more dry.

Feel: It has a decent amount of carbonation and a nice medium body.

Overall: I really enjoy this beer, its a nice one to sit down with and slowly sip and enjoy as the flavors change with warmth. This is a beer I hope to see pop up in stores around February for a long time!

Gotta love living in a country where its brewers will brew quality Belgian style brew and put it in a can! This one pours a nice rudy shade of dark mahogony with some ruby glimmers, loose dark khaki head, clears out pretty rapidly, leaving a thin film, a collar and ample spots of fine lacing. The nose is loaded with darker ripe fruits, cherries and figs come to mind as well as raisins and light rum. Flavorful and quite tasty, with more dark fruit notes, raisins, figs, dark grapes, vanilla and perhaps a wiff of the advertized (on the can) cinnamon. Great winter brew, pleasant and easy drinking. On the sweat side buy nowhere near cloying. Nice beer to take winter camping, easy to pack in and worth the effort...Christmas dinner desert beer and/or as a quality night capper

Pours dark red/brown with a khaki head. The aroma is a mix of dark fruit (figs, prunes) with a sour note, not what I was expecting but still a good smell. The flavor is more of the same with dark fruit and vanilla with some sour aspects, but not quite as much sourness as was in the aroma. The vanilla is strong in the aftertaste. Medium mouthfeel and lower carbonation.